My first two multi-chapter stories were complete failures. However, for a while now, I have been wanting to try my skills at writing again. Hopefully, this story will not go down the same path its predecessors did.
I was awoken by a slight morning breeze coming through the window of my room. I sat up, blinked the sleep out of my eyes, and got up to look out the hole in the hard stone wall; I could see that the sun was just rising over the mountains off in the distance. The dim light fell across two other forms in the room, one being a Ledian while the other was a Vulpix. Both were sound asleep. My two roommates were known as Leiko and Lorna respectively. I yawned, stretched my arms, and thought about rejoining them, but decided not to when I heard someone entering the guild members' quarters. Curiosity got the best of me when I heard the sound of one wandering outside of the crew rooms, so I picked up my bone club – which had been lying next to the mat of dried grass that was my bed – and walked out into the narrow corridor. A cold draft blowing through the hallway made me shiver suddenly. For some reason, the guild during the night was a bit...creepy.
I strained my eyes against the gloom, but I could not see anything out of the ordinary. The sounds that I heard shortly before could no longer be heard now as well. Assuming that whoever it was had either gone back to sleep or left the sleeping areas, I decided it was not worth my time to follow them. Guild members could get into trouble if they were caught roaming the guild at this time. Besides, it was probably just my imagination, and getting more sleep sounded like a great idea anyway.
About an hour later, all of the guild members were roused. The first thing on the agenda for the day was food, so we all proceeded to the mess hall. There, we ate apples – the staple of meals around here – and assorted seeds. Sometimes bananas were available, but since they were only found in the Southeastern Islands and the Marine Resort, the expenses for ordering them were a bit steep. The fact that they were in high demand among other guilds did not help either. Still though, the combination of apples and seeds for a breakfast was pretty hardy. Not to mention that guild members usually eat better than a lot of other Pokémon, so I can't complain. After breakfast, we were all summoned into the main hall of the guild for the daily briefing. As usual, Guildmistress Kiri – an optimistic yet serious Ampharos from Shimmer Hill – was giving us a pep talk and explaining the day's objectives. Standing next to her was her second-in-command, a tall, wicked looking Scizor.
"Good morning fellow guild members," Kiri started in her usual cheerful manner. "I hope you are all looking forward to today because we have been receiving many job requests lately. As usual, you can find the descriptions for these missions posted over on the wall," she continued, gesturing over to the bulletin board to her left. Kiri paused for a moment, her expression and tone becoming serious. "However, I have noticed that many of these missions are bounties. It appears that the rate of crime has been going up lately, so I will ask any members taking such jobs to use the utmost caution. Criminals should not be underestimated as they are criminals for a reason. Some may just run away, as they are cowards, but others may try to incapacitate you, or worse. A few of these outlaws are even known to have an entourage of minions at their disposal, so don't just charge at them headfirst. Be cautious, don't get cocky, and having a partner or two might not be a bad idea. With those words in mind, I encourage you all to challenge yourselves, but don't go and get into something way over your head."
Leiko, who had been standing next to me the whole time, smirked in amusement at the Guildmistress' last statement. Other members murmured amongst each other.
"On a lighter note," Umeko, the Scizor second-in-command, piped in, "today is the third anniversary of Darkrai's defeat at the paws of Team Oblivion."
This bit of information was met with cheers from almost every Pokémon in the main hall. Some of them – including me – were mere kits at the time of Darkrai's plot to plunge the whole world into an apocalypse. Almost every kit in the towns and villages throughout the land knew about the stories of Team Oblivion, Grovyle the Thief, and the sinister Dusknoir. My favorite story would probably have to be the one where Dusknoir abducted Team Oblivion and brought them to the future to be executed. While there, Team Oblivion allied themselves with Grovyle and they all worked together to get back to the past and prevent the planet's paralysis. There were many other stories that I also liked, however. For example, the tale of their legendary journey through the Hidden Land and their confrontation with Primal Dialga.
"The meeting is concluded, good luck today," Umeko stated.
With that, the guild members rushed off towards the job bulletin. I could not help but wonder what the day had in store for me.